Comedian Bill Maher is under fire after making a comment about fried chicken to a black congressman on a recent episode of his HBO show.

On Friday’s edition of Real Time With Bill Maher, the political commentator sat down to interview Will Hurd, a Republican congressman from Texas, who is black. The discussion began when Maher asked about why Hurd is a member of the GOP.

“I’m just asking why you’re Republican. Because they’re not good at the debt, that was their big thing. You said limited government, they don’t do that,” Maher said. “What’s in it for you? What is in the Republican Party for you? You were in the CIA!”

“I was in the CIA for almost a decade. I was the dude in the back alleys at 4 o’clock in the morning collecting intelligence on threats to the homeland,” said Hurd, speaking about his background.